Originally Posted by Minnesota Public Radio

Betsy Raasch-Gilman's only encounter with Sheriff Fletcher came on the first night of the Republican National Convention.

Eight members of the self-described anarchist group, the RNC Welcoming Committee, had already landed in jail after the weekend house raids. But Raasch-Gilman, a core committee member, was spared.

She said she was checking up on the group's St. Paul convergence center when a man in a van called her name.

It was Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher

She said the sheriff flipped through a notebook with pages devoted to members of the Welcoming Committee and said he had a big file on her.

"He told me I was the next on the list of Welcoming Committee members to be arrested, and that I was only at liberty because he would like me to use my influence with the Welcoming Committee to tone things down," Raasch-Gilman said.

Raasch-Gilman is 56, more than twice the age of many of her fellow Welcoming Committee members. She wears round, tinted glasses, works as a bookkeeper and has been honored for her work in peace and non-violence activism.

...

"To be candid with you, at that point, and today, I'm not concerned about my style with Betsy," Fletcher said. "The goal and the primary concern was not Betsy's feelings, it was the safety of the protesters and the officers over the course over the event."

But while Fletcher may not be concerned about style, that often is the story that surrounds him. Many protesters have focused their criticisms on Fletcher, although it was the St. Paul police department that led the effort resulting in more than 800 arrests.

Originally Posted by Minnesota Public Radio

Fletcher's critics say he is a master in the art of distraction.

They note that two of his top aides had just been convicted of stealing money in an FBI "integrity test" last August, when the pre-convention raids began. In response, Fletcher said he had been investigating the Welcoming Committee for a year prior to those raids.